Steering - Oil or Grease?

[rogerowen]

AND...... A word of warning! Don't attempt to load grease into the ball joint (track rod end) before assembling it to the rod, leave that till it's firmly in place on the car.

WHY? ... Cos, if you overdo it you'll blow the small clip off the ball joint gaitor. I've done it!!! and it's a right pain trying to get it back on again

Hahahaahaha thanks for the warning so have it on the tie rod and then lock nut on tight then grease? And also how much is to much grease

Yep, but if you intend to adjust the tracking (advisable) don't tighten up the locknut just yet as you'll need it loose to adjust the track rod till tracking is correct - then tighten it.

You should be able to see the TRE gaitor expanding as you pump the gun. Depending on the gun you have - probably around 5 or 6 lever moves.

[rogerowen]

Hmmm yeah that's what I was thinking just wasnt sure how I'd go about that as knowing it would be hell trying to fill with oil (it has oil in originally)

And so your saying is full lock to left and grease the rack and then full lock right and pack everywhere else?

And when you say 20squirts is that out the ep90 bottle?


Yes, probably don't need to overdo the grease - just enough to give it a good coating. Don't forget to give the ball joint that comes from the rack a good dollop (waggle the rod around so you can pack it all around the ball).

For the oil into the nipple port - remove the nipple (small fingers!), and use an oil can (lever type) and give 20 or so squirts. Nipple back in and mark the oil can so that in future you'll know that it's loaded with EP90.

Oh right ok that's fine and yeah just getting my first grease gun so fingers crossed it goes well wish me luck

By the way when it comes to the track rod ends I was thinking put some grease in the nipple and just get some grease round the joint and then fit it in and then pack it or am I just being stupid

Fit first then just grease at the nipple. Cheers & good luck, I'm doing pretty much the same work at the weekend as long as it stops raining (working outside!). I'll be using the piece of string method to get a rough tracking and will probably get it laser set at my tyre dealer - they only charge me £24 and in terms of tyre wear it probably saves me money in the long run.

[bmcecosse]

Just make a simple gauge from Dexion - or even timber! Save that £24....

[rogerowen]

Just make a simple gauge from Dexion - or even timber! Save that £24....

Have you got a plan to share Roy? I use the piece of string method - but I'm still a bit 'out' when I have it checked

[bmcecosse]

My gauge is a length of Dexion with two arms bolted on rigidly at right angles. Used at hub height, on the side walls - and a 6" steel rule to measure the gap, front and then rear. If I do the test 3 times - I get the same result.. String stretches ! You could of course use a length of conduit with nuts welded on the end -and screws in the end which could be adjusted in/out to save the 6" rule... Remebere the track rod ends need to be SAME amount each side. So set that up first and then adjust both equally.

[rogerowen]

I can visualise your ingenius rig, although the right angles would have to be very accurate indeed and not move at all - or you'd get a false reading. Think I'll stick to the string method, it's a lot easier than making a rig and the stretching of the string actually helps to hold a straight line, and of course has the added advantage of referencing the front wheels to the rear.

[MoggyBlue]

AND...... A word of warning! Don't attempt to load grease into the ball joint (track rod end) before assembling it to the rod, leave that till it's firmly in place on the car.

WHY? ... Cos, if you overdo it you'll blow the small clip off the ball joint gaitor. I've done it!!! and it's a right pain trying to get it back on again

Hahahaahaha thanks for the warning so have it on the tie rod and then lock nut on tight then grease? And also how much is to much grease

Yep, but if you intend to adjust the tracking (advisable) don't tighten up the locknut just yet as you'll need it loose to adjust the track rod till tracking is correct - then tighten it.

You should be able to see the TRE gaitor expanding as you pump the gun. Depending on the gun you have - probably around 5 or 6 lever moves.

Yeah well the work I'm doing now is for it's MOT so ill get them to track it whilst it's there and ah ok sounds easy enough then

[MoggyBlue]

Fit first then just grease at the nipple. Cheers & good luck, I'm doing pretty much the same work at the weekend as long as it stops raining (working outside!). I'll be using the piece of string method to get a rough tracking and will probably get it laser set at my tyre dealer - they only charge me £24 and in terms of tyre wear it probably saves me money in the long run.

Ah ok that's fine and I'm planning doing mine on the 24th so fingers crossed weather will be alright xD and ah awesome I can just take mine to college so not worried about doing it myself ;)

[bmcecosse]

The right angles don't need to be particularly 'accurate' - although they are correct...but indeed they do need to be rigid so they don't move. String is hopeless....because it stretches!

[LaughingBoy]

Oil or grease? Old thread but here's my twuppence worth :

Disadvantage of oil is that it tends to collect in the boots/gaiters and often leaks.
Disadvantage of grease is that it is difficult to get it to cover the whole rack and once it is 'cut through' by the movement of the rack / pinion will not necessarily do much lubricating.

A mineral base lithium lubricant grease NLGI consistency rating grade 0 e.g. (Castrol Spheerol EP0) should work well. It is semi-fluid and flows enough to cover the rack but is thick enough not to collect in or leak from the gaiters. You need to make sure you have a grease nipple fitted to the rack as opposed to the standard oil nipple.

If people want a thinner choice then there are NGLI 00 grade greases available or for those who want a thicker choice the NGLI 1 or 2 could be appropriate. A personal choice but I think all are better than either EP90 or standard grease.

To get an idea of the consistency of the various NLGI grades then the following is a rough guide in layman's terms :

https://www.thelubricantstore.com/layma ... gi-grades/

Graham

[alawrence10360]

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=70541&start=40

I haven’t fully read through this again but as I recall I was advised to fit another grease nipple on the passenger side

[philthehill]

Peanut butter will do for me.

These are the additional grease nipples I fitted to a Minor steering rack. Plus a mod to the pinion shaft.
They get the peanut butter/grease/EP90 to where it is needed.
Both grease nipples can be accessed from under the O/S/F wing.

steering rack mod 1.JPG (1.6 MiB) Viewed 1290 times

steering rack mod 2.JPG (1.48 MiB) Viewed 1290 times